transitioning to bottles from EBF

juniper is 8 months old and EBF. i am a nanny in my own home 3 days a week. it is becoming impossible to nurse her while the other baby is here, because my daughter requires lots of cuddles while nursing and gets distracted. so during the daytime, it takes 45 minutes all in all to get her to finally nurse. she only nurses twice a day while i nanny. i am feeling like i am neglecting this one year old that i get paid to watch. he is crawling everywhere, pulling himself up to walk... he needs supervised while i'm trying to coax juni into nursing.
so during these 3 days, i plan on giving her a bottle 2 times a day.
will she go to the breast easily after she gets a bottle? i am terrified she won't. i don't want to give up her other nursing sessions after he leaves for the day, and i want to nurse full time on my days off.
advice? plz?

oh, a little background: i have a freezer with about 150 bags pumped milk, i do plan on pumping at naptime during "workdays" to maintain supply, and we were EPing the first 2 mos of her life. we have tomme tippy bottles and plan to use low flow nipples.

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

Well, before anyone cries nipple confusion, I read somewhere that after breastfeeding is established nipple confusion is less likely to occur, and with yours being 8 months old, I really don't think she will drop the boob in lieu of the bottle. So just give her a bottle one day you're off but nurse for all other feeds. That way you can see how she reacts to both the bottle and the breast after the bottle.
It couldn't hurt and babies are smart.

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

The standard advice is once nursing is well-established at 4-6 weeks it is safe to give a bottle from a nipple confusion standpoint. Since she's 8 months you could also consider a sippy cup (tommy tippee makes sippy cups too, my 9 month old drinks some of her EBM from that while I'm at work and seems to like it). If you feel like there is any problem at the breast once you start offering a bottle or cup you can always eliminate (knowing about your nursing issues from other threads! )

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

Originally Posted by @llli*bfwmomof3

The standard advice is once nursing is well-established at 4-6 weeks it is safe to give a bottle from a nipple confusion standpoint. Since she's 8 months you could also consider a sippy cup (tommy tippee makes sippy cups too, my 9 month old drinks some of her EBM from that while I'm at work and seems to like it). If you feel like there is any problem at the breast once you start offering a bottle or cup you can always eliminate (knowing about your nursing issues from other threads! )

thank you for recognizing my previous issues! it's hard to fit all of my past details in one post, i just try and be short and sweet and include what i can!

true, i can eliminate bottles if needed. i forget that i can always go back if she gets preference for the bottle nipple. nursing is hard. i forget that it is ME interjecting rules that is what makes it hard!

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

paytek:
did you ever hear that a baby shouldn't take a bottle from mom unless mom doesn't want to nurse any longer? i think that's why i'm afraid. maybe i'll have daddy do the first bottle then i'll go from there!

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

That's the first I've heard that mom should not give a bottle to baby unless wanting to stop nursing. I've given baby bottles, even been the first one to ever give her a bottle, and she always returns to nursing as usual. Normally I just bf, though, it's only been a handful of times. I hope it works out just as well for you with your little one.

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

I've never heard that either. Though I do know that sometimes a baby will refuse a bottle from mom, but take it from others. Have even heard of them refusing bottles unless mom leaves the room for a while.

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

My son had eating issues from day 1, was too weak to pull milk from my breast and had tongue tie. For a full month and a half ish I was pumping every 3 hours, 24 hours a day. So from the get go he was offered bottles, pacifiers, and the breast even though he still couldn't eat from the breast.
he never had nipple confusion because the entire time I was still offering the breast even though he couldn't eat that way, and I was the one feeding him.
I think that because it's your scent it will give her an easier time transitioning. I mean, after 6 weeks of only bottle feeding, my son was successfully breastfeeding, and then I had to go back to being a super soldier, which was/ is breastfeeding only after 1700 and weekends and NEVER if I'm in the field.
Don't make it a stressful sitch. Babies are way smarter than they get credit for. I promise.

Re: transitioning to bottles from EBF

Just throwing this out there, but have you tried nursing in a sling or carrier to see if you can let your lo latch on or not as she prefers? That way you're not stressing about getting her nursed, your breast is right there if she decides to eat, and you can carry on taking care of the other child.

And as another sidenote that doesn't have anything to do with your question (so you can feel free to ignore it ), what happens if you try nursing her, she isn't interested and you just let it go for a little while longer?

“We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
--Anonymous